How to Play the Ticket to Ride Rails and Sails

Rails & Sails is a standalone game designed by Alan R. Moon, building on the classic Ticket to Ride mechanics. It expands the scope from land-based railways to include global sea routes, recognizing that a significant portion of our planet is covered by water. This means players can now connect cities across continents and oceans, embarking on grand journeys from places like Los Angeles to Sydney or Murmansk to Dar Es.

Game Rules: Goal, Playing, and Winning

The primary goal in Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails is to score the most points. Players achieve this by strategically claiming routes between cities and completing destination tickets. A new element, building harbors, also contributes significantly to a player’s final score. The player who accumulates the highest score at the end of the game is declared the winner.

How to Play the Game

Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails is designed for 2 to 5 players and is suitable for ages 10 and up. A typical game session lasts between 90 and 120 minutes. The game is a part of the broader Ticket to Ride universe.

Game Components

The game box is packed with everything you need for extensive global travel:

• 1 double-sided game board: Featuring a world map on one side and the Great Lakes of North America on the other.
• 165 colored train cars (33 each in blue, red, green, yellow, and black).
• 250 colored ships (50 in each color).
• 140 Travel Cards: This includes 80 Train Cards and 60 Ship Cards.
• The ship cards consist of 24 single-ship cards and 36 double-ship cards.
• There are 14 Wild Cards, which are found exclusively in the Train deck.
• 120 destination ticket cards: 65 for the world map and 55 for the Great Lakes map.
• 15 Harbors : (3 in each color).

Setup

To begin your global adventure, set up the game as follows:

1. Place the double-sided gamThe Out of Order Game Rules and Instructionse board in the center of your playing area, choosing either the World or Great Lakes map to play on.
2. Shuffle the train cards and ship cards into two separate decks. Then, deal 3 train cards and 7 ship cards to each player for their starting hand.
3. Flip 3 cards faceup from each deck to create a display of available travel cards next to the board.
4. Deal 5 destination tickets to each player. Each player must keep at least 3 of these tickets, placing any unkept tickets facedown at the bottom of the deck.
5. Each player receives 2 How to Play the Ticket to Ride Rails and Sails 5 train pieces and 50 ship pieces in their chosen color. They must then secretly decide on a starting mix of 60 total pieces (trains and ships) to keep in their supply, returning any unused pieces to the box.
6. Finally, each player also receives 3 harbor pieces in their color.

Starting the Game

The player who has traveled the most in real life takes the first turn. Gameplay then proceeds clockwise around the table.

Taking Turns

On your turn, you must perform one of five possible actions:

• Take Travel Cards: You can draw two cards, either from the six face-up cards or by drawing blindly from the top of the Train or Ship decks. If you pick a face-up Wild Card, that’s the only card you take that turn. Wild cards are only found in the Train deck.

• Claim a Route: To claim a route, play a set of matching-colored cards (either all Train cards for a train route or all Ship cards for a ship route) that corresponds to the number of spaces on the route. Place your matching colored pieces on the route and immediately move your scoring marker forward based on the route’s length. Note that Double-Ship cards allow you to place up to two ships per card when claiming sea routes.

• Draw Tickets: You can draw four new destination tickets from the deck, and you must keep at least one of them. Any tickets not kept are placed facedown at the bottom of the ticket deck. All kept tickets remain secret until final scoring.

• Build a Harbor: You can construct a harbor in a port city (marked with an anchor symbol) where you already have a claimed route. Building a harbor requires playing two Train cards AND two Ship cards of the same color, all of which must display a specific harbor symbol. Wild cards can be used for this action.

• Exchange Pieces: This action allows you to swap plastic pieces between your active supply and those you returned to the box during setup. This provides flexibility but comes for 1 point for each piece exchanged.

Going Out

The game approaches its end when any one player’s supply of plastic pieces (regardless of whether they are trains or ships) is reduced to six pieces or fewer. Once this happens, each player, including the one who triggered the end, gets to take two more turns. After these final turns, the game concludes, and final scoring begins.

Scoring

Points are accumulated in several ways throughout the game and at the end:

• Claimed Routes: Points are gained immediately when a route is claimed, based on its length.

• Completed Tickets: At the end of the game, players gain points for completing the routes shown on their destination tickets by connecting the cities with a continuous path of their colored pieces.

• Harbors: Harbors provide bonus points at the end of the game based on the number of completed tickets that include that specific port city. One completed ticket earns 20 points, two earn 30 points, and three or more earn 40 points. Harbors named on the same ticket can still earn points individually.

• Deductions: Points are lost for any destination tickets that were not completed. Additionally, players lose 4 points for each harbor they did not build by the end of the game. Points are also deducted for using the “Exchange Pieces” action during the game.

Winning

The player with the highest final score is declared the winner. Unlike some other “Ticket to Ride” games, there are no bonus points for the Longest Route or Most Completed Tickets in “Rails & Sails”.

Variations

Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails” introduces several unique route and ticket types that add strategic depth:

• Pair Routes: These special train routes are marked with a “Pair” symbol. To claim a single space on a Pair Route, you must play two Train cards of the same color. Wild cards can be used as part of a pair.

• Double Routes: Some cities on the board are connected by two parallel routes. In games with two or three players, only one of these two routes can be claimed for the entire game. In larger games, both routes can be claimed by different players.

• Tour Tickets: There are eight Tour tickets, which feature more than two cities. If a player completes the route in the exact order shown, they gain the higher point value. If completed but not in the exact order, they receive a lower point value. If the tour ticket is not completed, points are lost.

• Custom Piece Mix: At the start of the game, players have the unique option to choose their own mix of 60 trains and ships from their total supply to begin play. This allows for diverse initial strategies.

Conclusion

“Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails” offers a refreshing twist on the classic game by embracing both land and sea travel on a global scale. With its added complexity through ships, new card types, and strategic harbor building, it provides a unique and engaging experience for all players, encouraging varied and dynamic strategies

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